Bennie Byrd

When students are thrust into an eLearning environment, discipline is what is needed by 90% of the students - because they feel it is the teachers role to provide knowledge. When they discover that the teacher is a facilitator, and they must do most of the work - they tend to reject this type of learning and procrasinate. Many assignments go undone and eLearners grades plummet without discipline. The teacher must skillfully manage eLearning by daily monitoring, emailing, leading in discussions, and giving constant feedback and learning incentives and rewards.

After this lesson, it is more clear to me why some students are disengaged in "traditional classroom" - they simply are not interested in the class or lesson. They need more syncronous contact or one-to-one interaction. This is impractical in a class size near 40 students, however online learning tends to provide more support and feedback for disengaged students.

I've always felt that projecting my credentials was "BIG-HEADED." This is the first class I have taken saying this is a way of projecting our presence. I guess this is essential in virtual or distance learning situations where students need some way of identifying who we are personally and professionally.

Post what you've learned about this topic and how you intend to apply it.

Like any online course, I want to know how to manage the system. I've learned that the techer has full control of the learning enviroment and that proper software will guide you through successful steps for student interaction and learning. The teacher must know how the system works before engaging stidents.